GrowthMap
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The Indie Dev Marketing Checklist

50 actionable items before you hit $10K MRR.

Built across four phases — Pre-Launch, First 100 Users, Growth, and Scale — so you always know exactly what to do next, regardless of where you are right now.

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What's inside

50 items across four phases. Every item is specific and actionable — not "start a blog" but "write one long-form SEO article targeting a high-intent query from real user conversations."

01Pre-Launch10 items
▾
Define your ideal customer: one sentence covering who they are, what problem they have, and what they're currently using
Map 3–5 direct competitors and read their 1-star and 2-star reviews for positioning gaps
Identify the three specific communities where your ideal customer actually spends time
Write your positioning statement: who it's for, what it does, why it's different from the alternatives they already know
Optimize your App Store listing or landing page with keyword-rich title, subtitle, and description
Recruit 5 beta testers from communities who have the problem — not friends who'll be polite
Set up basic analytics before you launch (PostHog, Plausible, or Simple Analytics)
Write three outreach messages you're comfortable sending: cold DM, community post, and direct email
Find 10 newsletters or podcasts in your niche and introduce yourself to at least three of them before launch
Plan your launch day: choose one primary platform, write the post, and schedule follow-ups
02First 100 Users10 items
▾
Post to one community before Product Hunt — get social proof before the big launch day
Reach out personally to 20 pre-qualified people with a conversation about the problem, not a pitch
Schedule a 5-minute call with every active user in the first 30 days
Identify your single best-performing acquisition channel from week one and double down on it
Write your first piece of content based on a question from a real user or community thread
Set up an email list — even just 'sign up for updates' — before your first 100 users are gone
Ask your first 10 users who else they know with the same problem (personal referrals, not an automated widget)
Fix the single biggest friction point in onboarding before doing any more marketing
Document the three most common objections you've heard and write a response to each
Decide on one metric that matters for your product and track it weekly
03Growth Phase15 items
▾
Write one long-form SEO article targeting a high-intent query from real user conversations
Set up review-request prompts at the right moment — after value delivery, not at random
Establish a weekly publishing rhythm on the channel that worked best in the first 100 phase
Run a cold outreach campaign to 100 pre-qualified contacts. Track reply rate, not open rate
Submit to 5 directories, app roundups, or curated lists in your category
Set up a referral ask at your product's happiest moment — a direct personal message, not a widget
Guest-post or appear on one podcast or newsletter in your niche
Test one paid channel at a small budget ($5/day) to establish a cost-per-lead baseline
Set up a structured onboarding email sequence for new signups
Build a comparison page: your product vs. the main alternative your customers mention
Create a free tool or resource that solves one step of the problem your product addresses
Analyze your 30-day churn. Find the pattern in who leaves and address it in onboarding
Set up a win-back sequence for churned or lapsed users
Add 3 social proof elements to your landing page: reviews, screenshots, or real numbers
Run a 15-minute weekly marketing review: what worked, what didn't, what's next week
04Scale Phase15 items
▾
Hire or contract someone to help with one high-leverage task: content, paid ads, or SEO
Build a content hub: a resource library or blog that indexes everything you've created
Set up a proper SEO content calendar targeting 20 keyword clusters relevant to your product
Run an affiliate or partner program with 3–5 non-competing products that share your audience
Build your own community (Slack, Discord, or forum) around the problem your product solves
Write a case study from your best customer story with real numbers, not just quotes
Set up automated lead scoring or segmentation based on engagement signals
Test increasing your price — if conversion holds, it was too low
Establish a regular launch cadence: feature announcements, limited offers, or seasonal campaigns
Build a press and media kit that makes it easy for journalists and newsletters to write about you
Set up automated re-engagement campaigns for dormant users
Create video content showing the product in use for your top 3 use cases
Build one integration or get listed in one complementary product's marketplace
Run a systematic A/B test on your single biggest onboarding drop-off point
Document your full growth system so someone else could run it if needed

Who this is for

Indie developers

You've shipped something and you're not sure what to do next on the marketing side. The checklist gives you a structured sequence to follow at each stage.

Solo founders

You're doing everything yourself and you need a single place to see what you've done and what you haven't. The four phases map to where you are now.

First-time product makers

You're building in public or preparing your first launch. Pre-Launch phase is the one to start with. There's a reason it's first.

Builders stuck at a plateau

You've gotten some traction but momentum has stalled. The Growth Phase items are where most of the unlocks live for founders in this position.

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Free. No credit card. I'll send the download link and occasionally share growth strategy content for indie developers. Unsubscribe any time.

Want the personalized version?

The checklist tells you what to do. GrowthMap tells you what to do for your specific product.

This checklist covers the universal sequence. What it can't tell you is which communities your specific customers are in, which keywords your specific competitors rank for, or which newsletters cover your exact niche. GrowthMap does that research in about 15 minutes: real competitor data, live SEO intelligence, and outreach targets from live search. $29 one-time.

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